The Sixth Sense
by mystic-angel1
Summary: *Movie fic* After Gray's death, Aki finds out she's pregant with his child. Now, she wonders if she raised the child a single mother or not. What she does know, is her daughter has a secret. A big secret.
1. Refraction

"The Sixth Sense."  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything 'Final Fantasy' except for maybe one of the games, and a DVD..you get my point. I don't OWN it. Don't sue me....you won't get very much..  
  
Summary: Shortly after Gray's death, Aki finds out she's pregnant with his child. Now, after raising the baby as a single mother, Aki begins to realize things aren't always what they seem. Perhaps she didn't raise their daughter by herself, because she knows her daughter has a secret.  
  
A/N: Okay, this fic is going to be sort of like the movie 'Sixth Sense' but only by the fact that Talia can see spirits...you'll see...it won't follow the same plot or anything.  
  
Now, on with the show!  
Chapter 1: Refraction. ______________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Mom! I'm leaving!"  
  
Aki Ross turned from the kitchen sink, and went over to the door.  
  
"Wait! Talia!"  
  
Talia Ross stopped in the doorway, her brown hair tied up, and her blue eyes impatient. Her bag was slung casually over her shoulder, and Aki was stung with the thought of how much she reminded Aki of Talia's father. Her tie was half way knotted, and her school uniform was rumpled. It was quite obvious it was rushed morning in the Ross household.  
  
"You have a package. It came in the mail. Take it with you!"  
  
Talia hurriedly straightened her clothes, and took the package from her mother's hands. Giving her a quick peck on the cheek, Talia smiled at her mother before dashing out the door, tying the rest of her tie along the way.  
  
Aki smiled, watching her little girl sprinting down the street towards her school. She sighed, telling herself that her 'baby girl' wasn't so little anymore. Talia Ross took her school seriously, determined to graduate from the private military elementary school she attended, with top marks and carrying on the honour of her last name. Now, in grade eight, she was determined not to disappoint the memory of her father.  
  
Turning back to the kitchen, Aki pondered the upbringing of her daughter. Talia had never been too curious about her father, and that sometimes surprised her. Talia was never sad about it, or angry, almost as if she knew her father was alive somewhere.  
  
Then again, Talia had never been exactly normal. Aki knew, through her mother instincts, that Talia had a secret, though she had no idea what. She had never pondered it before, assuming Talia had inherited Gray's personality, calm and mysterious. But then again...  
Aki's heart jumped, and she turned, the hairs on her neck and arms standing up. Then her body jumped, and she screamed, as something fell to the floor in the next room. Calming herself, she slowly made her way into the living room, where she found the fallen item was a book. The photo album.  
There were pictures of Gray, old ones from when they were younger. They appeared perfectly normal. But then, Aki reached Talia's section, and she suddenly felt shamed that she had not noticed before. In every picture, from when Talia was a baby, even until pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, Talia was not looking at the camera, but off screen, in all different directions. Different, in every picture, as if she had an imaginary friend she was looking at. But what frightened Aki the most, was that everywhere her daughter was looking in the picture, there was a small little line of light. A refraction. A blue refraction.  
  
Aki's hand went to her heart, and the photo album slipped from numb fingers. She took a breath, and tried to calm herself. She was being stupid. It was probably just the camera...there was no way..spirits could be in the pictures. There was no evidence that spirits could leave Gaea..and even if there was...how would Talia see them? She couldn't...  
  
Aki sighed...  
  
"I wish you were here, Gray."  
Tbc....  
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
So...How'd you like it? Please review! I need some feedback as to how people like the idea. Don't get me wrong, I'll still continue writing this story if no one does review, in case some poor soul wanders by and happens to read it! Anyways, um...please review. I'll update soon! 


	2. Paralysed

"The Sixth Sense"  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Nor do I own any thing to do with Final Fantasy. Except maybe a copy of all the games, and some pictures, and the movie. But that doesn't count. SquareSoft owns it alll...aaaallll I tell you.  
  
A/N: Demons on Ice! I have updated. How long has it been? Let me see...ten months? That ish a very long time...yes it is. My writing just kinda...died. That's right, it promptly fell over and died. But it has been reborn! Yay! *rejoices and hands everyone a cookie* There, now.  
  
Umm...some of these parts I wrote in the middle of the night...by myself...and almost cried because I was so scared to go through the dark after. It probably won't scare YOU that much...since the description is perfect in MY head but probably will be different in yours...but just in case...don't be frightened!  
  
IMPORTANT: I am really really really good at turning my OC's into Mary Sue's, or so I've been told in the past. I'm trying really hard to make these guys non-perfect, but if they ARE turning into Mary Sue's PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me! Heh..don't be mean about it or anything...but just let me know. It's always when my OC's have some special gift...it turns them into omnipotent master minds or something..hehe...anyway.  
  
A/N 2:  
  
Neil is Neil's nephew. Umm...I guess you could call him Neil Fleming Jr. I know it's really typical for there to be next generation friends in it (Since I really couldn't make it Neil's son) but he IS going to play an important part in the story, and there IS a reason I made him related to Neil. So make it be clear: MY Neil is TSW Neil's brother's son. Make any sense? (I could add in a few twice removed's in there to annoy you...but will resist the temptation)  
  
  
  
Read on!  
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
"So...what is it?" Neil exclaimed, attempting in vain to pull the square package from Talia's hand.  
  
Talia glared at her bestfriend out of the corner of her eye, tugging the brown envelope from his hands and slipping it into her bag. Neil made a whiny sound of disappointment, slumping back into the grey plastic of the school bus seat, and crossing his arms impatiently.  
  
"Oh, don't do that, Neil!" She laughed, pushing his shoulder. "Jesus...It's just a letter!"  
  
"Did you see the logo on the top?" Neil questioned her excitedly. "You know where it's from?"  
  
"Yeah, I know." She muttered, tugging nervously on her tie, and turning to the window.  
  
"Ha!" Neil exclaimed, causing a couple of timid first-years sitting in from of them to jump. He lifted his hands, placing them gently on her shoulders and shaking her a few times.  
  
"Neil!" She hissed, shrugging him off. "Cut it out!"  
  
"It's the acceptance letter, isn't it?" He interrogated. "It is, and you're nervous!"  
  
She glared at him. "Of course I'm nervous!"  
  
In fact, her acceptance into the Military Academy had been causing her a great deal of stress for a few months. If she didn't get into the Academy, she wouldn't get into UMC, which means she wouldn't ever be like her father.  
  
USMF, the United States Military Force, ran a school that everyone at the private military school she attended now hoped to get into. Her father, and mother, had attended it, and Neil's uncle had too. She knew Neil had already been accepted, and the letter she held in her hand could decide the rest of her life.  
  
Neil rolled his eyes. "You'll get in. You're an Edwards, for God's sake."  
  
She clicked her tongue, raising an eyebrow at him menacingly.  
  
"Are you implying that I couldn't get in based on my OWN skills?" She asked.  
  
"Oh, No!" He pouted his lip and shook his head. "Me? Never."  
  
Neil Fleming had been by her side for as long as she could remember. He was her sidekick, her boon companion. Every ounce of trouble she had gotten into in her life had been along side him, and she really didn't know why their parents hadn't separated them at a very young age. His brown hair was short and curly, his eyes bright and green, and if he wasn't extremely moody, he was happy or hyper or both. The nephew of her mother's late friend, they were inseparable.  
  
She watched silently as he pulled out a paperback from his bag, opening it up to a marked page, and bending his head over the pages to read. Once he was completely engrossed in his reading, Talia turned to the window, left alone with her thoughts.  
  
She would have to tell him sooner or later. She would have tell him about her gift, or her curse. Some day...she would have to tell Neil her secret. Because if she couldn't trust him..she couldn't trust anyone.  
  
This thought took her mood down another tole.  
  
Her sight blurring as she watched the road whiz by, she knew her thoughts were true. She could tell anyone. People would laugh, people would scold. Even her mother hadn't believed her. Five years old, scared and confused, Talia had learned to keep her mouth shut.  
  
It had taken her awhile to grasp the concept, the fact that her ability to see what others couldn't wasn't normal. She didn't understand why she got in trouble when she mentioned ever talking to her father, didn't understand when her mother began taking her to psychologists. In fact, it has taken a total of six different people to show Talia the truth.  
  
Her father was dead.  
  
He was dead, so it wasn't possible for her to see him, it wasn't possible for her to talk to him. They told her she had a very nice imagination, but lying wasn't nice. Their words scarred her, shocking her into burdening her ability as far down in her mind as possible. She had never spoken of it again, and she knew that if she had, she would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.  
  
  
  
Nevertheless, she often grew frustrated with her mother. Aki refused to speak of Talia's father, refused to speak of Neil's uncle, she refused to get into any sort of detail about any of her old friends from the war. She never spoke of Ryan or Jane either, and the only way Talia had ever found anything out was through her surrogate grandfather. Dr.Sid seemed to be pleased with her curiosity, and had offered to give her any information she desired, as long as it wasn't too personal.  
  
Even worse was the reaction of the Spirits when they realised she could see them. She knew she couldn't deliver messages to every loved one, knew she couldn't carry out wishes. And through protection for herself, she often couldn't tell Spirits about her ability either. She spoke to few of them, only those she really needed to. Her father was the only Spirit she fully talked to, the only Spirit she could open up to. Her father was always there, always in her house, and sometimes out of it, on special occasions. Talia had to be careful not to act as if her father was there when her mother was around. She saw Neil Sr. and Jane often too, though she had never seen Ryan. It made her think that maybe Spirits she could see had a purpose...  
  
"Hey, Dozer-Brain!" Neil's voice interrupted her thoughts. "We're here."  
  
He let out a rather loud and creative curse as the bus drove over a speed bump with no deduction to the speed, and sending the occupants flying into the air. Shaking herself out of her thoughtful stupor, she smiled.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Are you going to open it or am I going to have to kill you?"  
  
Talia looked up from her work, the harsh whisper startling her out of her homework limbo. Flashing her eyes quickly towards the teacher's turned back, she leaned over her desk, looking down a level to where Neil's desk was a platform below her own. Neil had his head tilted back, looking on the brink of toppling over the back of his chair, his eyes glaring up at her.  
  
"If I didn't know any better," She teased. "I'd think you're just as anxious about my acceptance as I am!"  
  
He flushed somewhat, teetering on the back legs of his chair for a moment, and looking back up at her coyly. She knew that look, bracing herself for a witty remark. When none came, she looked worriedly down at him, to see an obligatory water bottle flying in the air and headed straight for her books.  
  
It moved in slow motion, like an impending doom. She could, of course, sacrifice the dryness of her clothes in order to save her work. She could also hit the water bottle back at the culprit, at great risk of wetting other people and alerting the teacher. But she had no time to think, and when her arm reached out to do either of her two options, it was caught between hitting the bottle and catching it, and she ended up doing nothing but soaking her work, her clothes, AND alerting the teacher as the bottle made a dull clunk on the edge of her desk.  
  
"Ms.Edwards!" The balding man peered up through his round glasses. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I spilt my water, Sir." She lied.  
  
Professor Prinstar sighed. "Very well. Fetch some paper towel and clean up your mess. I expect your paper to be rewritten and on my desk tomorrow morning. And please, dear, work on your coordination skills."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
His last words stung, and flushing with great embarrassment and anger, she left the classroom amongst scorning stares and laughter. In the bathroom, she tried in vain to dry the wet spots on her blue cotton uniform shirt, and silently seethed.  
  
She spent the rest of her time cleaning up the water spilt on the floor, and rewriting her carefully done paper, her hand shaking with annoyance. When the bell rang, she left the class in a hurry, without Neil.  
  
He approached her at her locker while she was pulling on her grey knitted uniform sweater, an apologetic smile on his face. She threw the door of her locker open with loud slam, completely ignoring him, her mouth tightening in an angry frown. Neil looked slightly startled at her display of temper.  
  
"Tal?" He asked cautiously. "Are you mad?"  
  
"No," She muttered bitterly, rummaging through some loose papers in search of the draft belonging to the work that had just been ruined. "I'm real delighted."  
  
"I didn't know it had water in it..." He winced. "I didn't mean to..."  
  
"Well, you should have thought before you acted for once!"  
  
He recoiled sharply, his eyes darkening with hurt. His mouth tightened and his shoulders tensed in what she knew was his battle position, and he tilted his head to the side. Despite the digging feeling in the bottom of her stomach, she refused to feel guilty about her words, despite the fact that they had been spontaneous and hurtful. She watched him steadily as he turned without a word, pushing his way through and disappearing in the crowd of mingling students.  
  
She was slightly surprised at this. Neil wasn't mature enough to solve things peacefully, he never had been, and probably never would be. In the past, he had won his battles by fire or charm, depending on how serious the dispute was. In the best of times, Neil could outwit her, hurt her, or angry her speechless with his agitation. If the stakes were somewhat lower, and he knew she wasn't as angry as she seemed, he would try to be as cute as possible, knowing it swayed her in the end. But this was the first time in awhile he had walked away without a comment, something he only did when he was seriously hurt.  
  
Despite her determination to stay guiltless, her stomach turned as she closed her locker. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, not if she could have helped it. Sighing, she closed her lock as the warning bell rang, tucking her books under her arm and pushing her own way through the crowd. She would have to talk to him later.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
She entered Science class in a further bad mood. Her uniform was wet, she had to redo her homework, and her best friend refused to speak with her. Her Science Professor greeted her with a smile, something she was barely able to return. Storming over to her seat which was, inconveniently, beside Neil; She slumped down in her seat without so much as a greeting to her classmates.  
  
She risked a glance at Neil, who was sitting silently to her left. His head was bent over his textbook, tapping his pencil sharply against the wood of his desk. His mouth was tightened still, and she knew he still wouldn't speak to her. Letting out a purposefully audible sigh of frustration, she turned to the front, opening her books as the Professor had instructed.  
  
About halfway through her class, she slammed her calculator down on her desk in anger. Even the students in front of them seemed to notice the tense air between her and Neil, and the classroom's silence was driving her mad, to the point where her ears rung, and she couldn't concentrate.  
  
"Look," She whispered to him, "This is stupid."  
  
He didn't say anything, his eyes dark and never straying from the front of the class. His ears were twitching slightly, a sign that he was grinding his teeth. Surprised as to the extent of his anger, she leaned over towards him, forcing him to look at her by her proximity.  
  
"I...didn't mean it.." She whispered shortly. "Okay? You know I didn't."  
  
"Yeah," She muttered harshly. "Maybe you should think before you talk for once!"  
  
She sighed, wincing at his words. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just..stressed."  
  
"I've noticed." He said cooly, moving his attention away once again.  
  
Never to be discouraged, she opened her mouth again to speak. A flash of blue, the air suddenly turning cold, her voice stopped in her throat. Everything seemed to be moving slowly, her hearing completely devastated, apart from a few loud sounds that seemed to echo in her head. She knew this feeling, knew it all too well.  
  
It was a man this time, one she didn't recognize. Although the distorted blue haze that formed his figure prevented her from making out any details, she could tell by the broad tenseness of his shoulders, the curve of his empty mouth and eyes.  
  
This spirit stood outside, staring in through the window. He looked disturbing, like a serial killer. He did nothing but stand there, looking in at her. And despite all her instructions from her father not to meet eye contact with any spirits other then the ones she knew(A/N: heh...kinda like the ol' talking to strangers lesson) She couldn't pull her eyes away from the window, where the resolute spirit was watching her. The air throbbed with intensity, as if it had suddenly become solid. The world stopped completely, and she couldn't move.  
  
The spirit's body moved through the window, trailing behind him a sluggish like pathway of swirling smoke. Talia's heart stopped like everything else, the spirit walked slowly up the row of desks, passing through every object he encountered, until he stood so close to Talia's desk that she had to look up drunkenly to see him.  
  
"You...will..us...now.."  
  
Her brain wouldn't function the words, and she watched in a strange kind of shock as the spirit moved from her desk over to Neil's. She could hear her own heart pounding, rising up and joining with the severity of the air, as if it were some kind of music. The spirits hands moved up through the desk, moving up and encircling Neil's throat.  
  
"You..will...h-help..us now..."  
  
The spirit's hands tightened, and Neil's body suddenly came alive, twisting in pain. She couldn't cry out, couldn't move to help him, and the Spirit's hold only tightened as his gaze penetrated right into her mind. She felt it.  
  
"You..will help us now...or..the second one..."  
  
"Talia...Talia!"  
  
She gasped deeply and sharply, the sound of a voice echoing through the hardened air, before it dropped. Everything was moving, the Spirit was gone, and Talia was left exactly as she was before she had seen the spirit, inhaling deeply for breath she didn't have.  
  
Neil was staring at her. "What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Hnnn.."  
  
The small throaty sound was all she managed, as the lashings of her vision rebounded on her, as the shock slowly faded from her body. With another loud gasp, she pushed herself out, stumbling over the side of her chair, and landing in a small huddle in the middle of the classroom.  
  
"Professor Netsil!" Neil stood out of her chair. "Something's wrong with Talia!"  
  
Professor Netsil looked up from his work, his eyes landing on Talia's contracting figure on the floor. He stood up from his chair with a great look of concern.  
  
"Talia!" He called. "Talia, are you alright?"  
  
She sat up, bracing herself on her arms. She had never experience anything like that before, and a wave of dizziness past over her, followed by a heavy nausea. One hand over her pounding heart, the other clamped over her mouth, she fled from the classroom, away from the soft murmurs of concern, and the teacher's call for someone to follow her.  
  
Afterwards, she rested her head against the toilet, letting her body slowly calm down. Twelve years of seeing Spirits, and not once had she ever had a reaction as bad as that. She saw them normally, almost as if everyday people. But this was the first time, time itself has stopped, the first time it had been so intense.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Talia Edwards rested her head weakly against her locker door. A few people from her Science class expressed concern as they passed her, but she gave them the appropriate reassurance, although she herself had no idea why she had been sick the way she had. She bent down into her locker to pick up the books for her next class, when she felt a warm gentle hand on her back, and she stood.  
  
Neil stared at her in fear, two slips of orange paper clasped tightly between his hands. Whatever anger he had been experiencing, it seemed to be gone, or atleast put off for the time being.  
  
"You'd better be kidding around." He said seriously. "Because that scared the shit out of me."  
  
She shook her head, passing a hand over her face. "I just felt sick, Neil."  
  
"Talia Ross- Edwards." He leaned in menacingly, trapping her into a box with his arms on either side of her head on the lockers. "You were looked terrified, and you weren't breathing. What's going on?"  
  
She ducked under his arm, pacing on the tips of her toes. "Don't harp on it, Neil. I'm fine."  
  
Neil sighed, pushing weight on his neck and cracking it. He handed her one of the orange slips he had in his hand. Orange slips were permission to be excused from class, and she looked at his with some confusion.  
  
"If you're sick." He spoke sternly. "I'm not letting you wander the halls alone."  
  
Talia smiled, rolling her eyes. "You are so anxious! You're like my mother!"  
  
Nevertheless, she was grateful. She was still woozy and upset, and she didn't feel like wandering the halls alone, especially if there was any chance she'd see another Spirit. While Neil spluttered at being compared to her mother, she closed her locker, sliding down the cool metal and sitting on the floor. Neil looked down at her for a moment in concern, bracing himself on his arms as he settled down beside her.  
  
"I'm really sorry about before." She said sincerely, resting her head on the locker.  
  
His eyes flickered. "That's fine...I guess."  
  
Her mouth twisted into a wry grin, punching his shoulder a couple of times. She really hadn't meant to hurt him. Staring down at the dooming letter in her hands, she pushed it out in front of him. He looked at it, and he gave her a confused look.  
  
"Open it for me?" She asked, partly in apology.  
  
He grinned, taking the package in his hand and rotating it a few times. He was most likely, she knew, going through the same process he had before opening his own. Then, his stubby fingernails tore into the top, making the hole large enough for him to slip the paper out.  
  
"Ready?" He asked cautiously.  
  
Her heart pounded, she nodded. "Yeah."  
  
Slowly, he turned the paper over. His face remained expressionless as his eyes roamed over the content of the letter. Then, his face split into a wide smile, small wrinkles of laughter appearing at the corner of his eyes.  
  
"Congratulations Ms.Edwards..." He glared up at her. "Not Ross-Edwards? I knew it!"  
  
She snatched the letter impatiently out of his hands, reading it frantically for herself. She let out a small shout, thrusting a fist of triumph in the air, and immediately regretting it as her throat gave a painful twinge.  
  
"We made it!" She croaked happily, a hand coming up to massage her throat.  
  
They slapped a quick high five, tucking the letter safely into her jean pockets.  
  
"We so totally rock!" Neil teased, imitating her victory pose and lifting his nose.  
  
She sniffed, settling herself more comfortably on the ground, resting her head on her arms. A sort of happy buzz had replaced the nervous feeling she had been experiencing for the past few weeks.  
  
And she almost forgot about the incident half an hour before.  
  
______________________________________________________________________________  
  
Yay! *Author pats herself on the back* I have finished the second chapter, ladies and gents!  
  
*sigh* I watched TSW again..and every time I do, I sit there and stare and wish the ending is somehow different. Seriously, Squaresoft has a really big problem with happy endings.  
  
Anyways...Please Review and I shall love you forever and give you a cookie. (With doubly chocolate chips) eh? 


End file.
